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Rock N Rawr for Levi!

TANYA MARKOVA lead vocalist Norma Love; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

Written and photographed

By Jude Bautista

Last March 23, 2018 – ROCK N RAWR was held at DULO MNL, a bar in Poblacion Makati. It was a fund raising effort for Levi Abundo who was born prematurely (only 6 months in utero).

Because of Levi’s fragile state he was required to stay in the N.I.C.U. (neonatal intensive care unit). The medical bill from the NICU station alone comes to a total of 4.2 million pesos. Added to this there are other procedures he needs.

The fruits of your generosity allowed Levi to go home and graduate from N.I.C.U! Help him raise money he still needs for hospital bills. Photo from Landa’s facebook.

Bands such as TANYA MARKOVA, MOJO FLY, HINLALATO extended their support for Levi.

FULL LIST of performers:

Spoken Word Poetry from:

Kooky Tuason, Marty Tengco, Jing Reyna Jorge, The Makatas

Music Performance by:

Tanya Markova, Mojofly, Hinlalato, Lunch Poems,

Undecided, The Morning Episodes

and DJ Mike Lavarez

UNDECIDED; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

Getting the Bands Together

After Levi’s parents’ Luis and Landa Abundo decided to have a fund raising involving bands, there was one friend they had in mind. Clang Santos, vocalist of HINLALATO was a close family friend since their high school days. He’s a batch mate and old friend of Landa’s brother Michael. There was no hesitation on Clang’s part in in volunteering his own band. But then he thought of recruiting TANYA MARKOVA.

Luis and Landa Abundo with friends who helped raise funds for Levi. Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

A chance meeting at CLUB DREDD in Eastwood City Mall back in 2010 would prove to be providential, “TANYA MARKOVA, I just suggested the band because they’re a fun act. We used to play 2010 in CLUB DREDD in Eastwood Mall, the second iteration of CLUB DREDD. We met there, really funny guys. They launched a single and all that. We’ve been in communication ever since. I’m really glad they were able to join this project.“

Clang’s relationship with Landa’s family runs deep, “Michael Bautista (Landa’s brother), we call him Bong. We’ve been friends since 1987, grade school. We became closer when we got into high school. We became close with the whole Bautista family. When their dad, Tito Mike called of Ate Landa. He told me, ‘your sister Ate Landa has a little bit of trouble maybe you can help out’. We immediately said yes. We want to be part of the project and they consulted me with what they could possibly do. Maybe we can do this and do that. I helped a little bit but its all them. I’m really really happy to be part of this project. I hope this is the first of many.’

A number of the band members they recruited were also young parents. Clang said they could easily relate to the struggles that Luis and Landa are going through.

“Lugi of MOJOFLY is a good friend. I knew that Lugi is not only a female vocalist but she’s also a new mom. I’m pretty sure she could relate. I messaged Lugi and she immediately said yes. She wanted to be part of the project.”

Luis and Landa Abundo with friends who helped raise funds for Levi. Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

HINLALATO

HINLALATO- is the Filipino word for middle finger. The irreverence, rebellion even the humorous nature of the gesture represents what the band stands for. Clang goes on, “We got a gig in Quezon City. We were thinking of a name but wanted it to be very Pinoy Rock. We wanted it to be very representative of what we play and who we are.

from left: HINLALATO bassist Bass Godwin Salazar, Guitarist Luden Salazar and vocalist Clang Santos; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

Our bassist (Godwin Samar) had this idea why not HINLALATO? What does that mean? It’s the middle finger. Its in your face, straight forward. It could mean a lot of things. It could make fun of other people, in jest. That’s what it meant for us, about being Pinoy and being kick ass, in your face.”

HINLALATO Guitarist Jon Salazar; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

HINLALATO band Members include: Luden Salazar (Guitar), Jon Salazar(Guitar), Aldwin Alberto (Drums), Godwin Samar (Bass) and Clang Santos (Vocals). These guys have been together for a decade and they gel like it too.

What keeps them together is their love for the same kind of music. Clang enumerates, “All of us are heavily influenced by 70s and 80s hard rock and Pinoy bands. All of us love RAZORBACK, WOLFGANG, JUAN DELACRUZ, MARIA KAFRA, THE DAWN.”

HINLALATO; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

Classic Rock

Their music is a journey into the very best of classic rock. It’s varied coming from the 60’s all the way to the 90s. They kicked off with Led Zeppelin’s IMMIGRANT SONG, that became the soundtrack of THOR RAGNAROK.

It was followed by WALANG TIGIL ANG ALON, “an original we wrote back in 2011 about unconditional love. Our 3rd song glam rock inspired AMELIE. We played 2 classic rock songs one from Lenny Kravitz’ ARE YOU GONNA GO MY WAY? followed by Black Crowe’s HARD TO HANDLE, then Beatles COME TOGETHER, more Aerosmith’s version. Last song was our first single FILI about Pinoy pride, love of country.”

HINLALATO drummer Aldwin Alberto; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

EP for Levi

FILI hit the rock notes but wasn’t a hard sell in the lyrics, the kind of music that can inspire. That night the band dedicated sales of their EP for Levi, “Our EP is out – HINLALATO X, you can find all our songs on spotify, itunes, deezer, google play and Apple music. You’ll find all our 3 songs there. you can stream them for free. You can also find the music video for our single FILI on YouTube. You can also find us on facebook, instagram and twitter: HINLALATO MUSIC. We post all our schedules there our photos and all that. We’re going to have a bar tour in Cebu, Davao and Baguio.”

THE MORNING EPISODES’ Miguel Escueta. Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

THE MORNING EPISODES

Miguel Escueta of THE MORNING EPISODES was there to represent the band and play an acoustic version of the collaborations with international artists: UNTIL THE SUNRISE (with Sullen H) and FALLS INTO THIS (with Curtis Smith).

LUNCH POEMS; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

TANYA MARKOVA

This quirky, theatric band has been capturing the hearts of music fans for quite a while now. I first photographed them (also in Eastwood Mall) during a larger more grand album launch in 2012_? Not a lot of people know they’re multi-awarded too:

NU Rock Awards – Best New Artist (2010), Best Music Video – DISNEY (2010), Best Live Act (2010), Myx Music Awards – Favorite New Artist (2011), DWRX Monster Radio RX 93.1 – OPM Band of the Year (2010), New Artist of the Year (2010).

TANYA MARKOVA; Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

TANYA MARKOVA closed the show for Little Levi that night in DULO MNL. They performed their hits PICTURE PICTURE, LINDA BLAIR, HIGH END, JACUZZI, KUNWARI and DISNEY.

TANYA MARKOVA from left: Mow Mow (Tambourine) and Isabel Ole (Lead Guitars). Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

They also let Mow mow loose giving him the chance to sing Bruno Mars’ VERSACE ON THE FLOOR. According to him it was a favorite of his grandma. While not vocally perfect he was nevertheless able to win over the crowd.

As a testament to Levi’s courage in fighting for his place in the world, he has already gotten better. But a lot still remains to be done for his full healing. Mom Landa however was able to share an inspiring update last August 5, 2018 from this facebook post:

Hi, everyone! I got my dose of Vitamin D early this morning. I didn’t really enjoy it at first but I eventually got cozy in Mommy’s arms while Daddy entertained me.

How about you? What are you up to this Sunday? Hope you’re all enjoying quality time with family and loved ones!

The fruits of your generosity allowed Levi to go home and graduate from N.I.C.U! Help him raise money he still needs for hospital bills. Photo from Landa’s facebook.

In case you’re wondering what the line near the edge of my diaper is… That’s one of my surgery scars peeking. It’s quite long for my tiny tummy! Battle scars remind us how strong we are to have gone through trials. They’re beautiful that way, don’t you think?

from left: TANYA MARKOVA Skrovak Iskopanjo (Bass), Iwa Motors (Vocals) and Rez Curtis (Guitars). Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

Luis and Landa Abundo with friends who helped raise funds for Levi. Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista

from left: TANYA MARKOVA Robot Jaworski (Keyboards), and Skrovak Iskopanjo (Bass). Rock N Rawr a fundraising for Levi Abundo was held at DULO MNL a bar in Poblacion Makati last March 23, 2018. Photo by Jude Bautista